This Unlikely Actor is Marvel's Newest Hollywood Superhero

According to Variety, Paul Rudd will star as Ant Man in Marvel's new superhero movie of the same name to be released in 2015.

At this point you're probably wondering two things: How on Earth was Rudd (currently starring in Anchorman 2) cast as a superhero, and who (or what) is Ant Man? The answer to the second question helps answer the first.

Ant Man is a fairly obscure comic that made its Marvel debut in 1962. In the comic, biophysicist Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym discovers a substance that allows him to shrink to the size of an insect and then communicate with ants to solve crimes. It sounds hokey, but Ant Man and his girlfriend Jan Van Dyke, aka "Wasp," become the founding members of The Avengers. There have been two other Marvel iterations of Ant Man over the years, but it's assumed that Rudd will be playing the first of these, Dr. Henry Pym. 

Ant Man just might be the perfect vehicle for Rudd, who is mostly known for his comedic roles in films like Judd Apatow's Knocked Up and the camp cult classic Wet Hot American Summer. The movie will be directed by Edgar Wright, who also helmed Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. The Rudd and Wright pairing seems to mesh perfectly with Ant Man — an unlikely, quirky, and nebbish hero who we can all get behind.

From Christopher Nolan's dark and brooding Batman franchise, to the traditional action blockbuster The Avengers, to the semi-comedic Kick Ass, it's clear that there's a space for all kinds of heroes in Hollywood. Rudd isn't the most obvious choice for a superhero, but, then again, Ant Man isn't the most obvious superhero to begin with. Rudd just might pull it off.